260 



SCHOOL ENTOMOLOGY 



per annum and had cost the State $100,000,000 up to 

 that time. The amount of injury has not increased in pro- 

 portion to the spread of the pest, and although no careful 

 estimates have been made recently, the total annual loss for 

 the cotton belt, as a whole, cannot be less than $50,000,000 



per annum, and in some 

 years it has, doubtless, been 

 double that amount. 



The boll weevil is a 

 small brownish beetle about 

 one-fourth inch long, includ- 

 ing the snout which is half 

 as long as the body. It may 

 be distinguished from nearly 

 related species and other 

 common weevils by the 

 two teeth at the tip of the 

 femora of the fore legs (Fig. 

 183). It feeds only on 



cotton and weevils found feeding on other plants are 

 certainly of other species. 



The weevils emerge from hibernation from the time 

 cotton is up until it begins to " square." During the spring 

 they feed on the foliage, particularly the tender terminals. 

 As soon as the squares are formed the females lay their eggs 

 in them, laying four or five a day, and depositing an average 

 of about 140. The egg hatches in about three days and the 

 grub feeds within the square, which usually fails to develop 

 and falls to the ground. The larva becomes grown in seven 

 to twelve days and then changes to the pupa, which lasts 

 three to five days. Thus, from egg to adult requires from 

 two to three weeks, depending upon climatic conditions, but 

 a full generation requires six weeks, and there are not over 



FIG. 183. The cotton boll weevil 

 enlarged. 



